Page 17 of Viper

We turn onto a long hall with rows and rows of metal doors. Fallon points to the door with bubbling gray paint and rust spots. “This will be your room.”

“Will I get locked in there too?” I ask. I don’t like the idea, but at least he didn’t mention a purging room, so maybe it won’t be too bad here. Unless he’s waiting to tell me that part. Keeping it secret, like the sisters did. “In my room, I mean?”

Fallon stops again and places a hand on my shoulder, guiding me through a door with a white outline man on the front.

A bathroom.

My stomach twists.

“Let’s get you clean clothes,” he says.

I look down at my clothes, wondering if I can convince him I don’t need a cleansing. They aren’t very dirty, just some streaks of dirt and dust, mostly around my knees and bottom. Besides the pee on my leg, they’re pretty clean. My arms are grubby, and I would bet my hair is a mess, but I’m not too filthy. It was only three days. I’ve endured far longer during a purging.

Besides, I didn’t make a bowel movement, and managed to hold it, which I’m glad. It would have been terrible to sit in that room with the stench, though I have a feeling the rats and bugs would have been happy. Headmistress Isla always made me clean my waste after my penance. Even though my knees and body were sore, I did it without complaint or a single tear.

I want to cry now, though, and I have to bite my lip to stop it from trembling.

From the center of the tiled room, I watch as Fallon gathers supplies.

White bar soap.

A white towel.

My breathing turns heavy. My belly twists for a different reason. Needles start pricking the tips of my fingers and a dullsound hums in my head. Like the devil’s snakes are in there whispering.

This is why I stopped praying. Bad things just seem to find me no matter what I do.

Fallon turns the water on and then points to the shower stall.

“Take a shower,” he says, then gestures to a stack of grey clothes. “Put on your uniform and then meet me in the hallway. You have ten minutes.”

He walks to the door, and my heart jumps.

“You aren’t going to cleanse me?” I ask.

He stops just before he reaches for the door. When he turns to face me, his brows are pointed down again, like two black lines making a V. “Do you need me to bathe you?”

I shake my head so fast, a curl falls into my face. “No, sir.”

Fallon nods, gaze moving up and down, but not like how Sister Isla always did, then leaves.

The second the door slams shut, I rush forward searching for a lock, my heart beating so hard I feel it might rattle right out of me. When I don’t see one, my hands start to shake, but then Fallon’s deep voice says from the other side of the door, “Ten minutes,syn.”

My shoe slides over the cracked white tile as I take a step back. My eyes move to the stack of clothes, then the running shower.

Ten minutes.

I had better hurry before he changes his mind.

Chapter 7

Cora

Warmthseepsfromthemug into my hands. I take a sip of the tea Rune made me, my brain scrambled from everything Rune said.

I know the men never wanted money for Delly. But maybe negotiating a term and focusing on money keeps suspicion off Clyde or Ben aka Breaker. On my return flight here, that was my first thought. That they’ve been communicating.

Now I know they have.